Efren Torres vs. Susumu Hanagata (1st meeting)
Efren Torres 117 lbs lost to Susumu Hanagata 116 lbs by UD in round 10 of 10
- Date: 1969-06-19
- Location: Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Referee: Lee Grossman 2-6
- Judge: Larry Rozadilla 2-6
- Judge: Dick Young 2-8
Torres earned a guarantee of $15,000. The two fought at an agreed upon weight of 117 pounds.
Source: Los Angeles Times
"Unranked Susumu Hanagata, Japan's national flyweight champion, Thursday night scored a lopsided upset decision over world champ Efren Torres of Mexico in a 10 round non-title fight at the Olympic Auditorium. Torres appeared sluggish and out of condition following a day-long effort to sweat off one pound. The champion was overweight at the morning weigh-in, and after the bout he said he took Hanagata 'too lightly'. There were no knockdowns in the one-sided fight and neither fighter was staggered. Torres suffered cuts around the left eye in the 2nd and 4th rounds and Hanagata received a cut inside his mouth in the 7th. But neither fighter was hampered by his injuries." -United Press International
- Several ringside boxing writers polled had the fight unofficially scored 8-0 for Hanagata.
- Olympic promoter Aileen Eaton stated she wished to stage a rematch with the title on the line in August or September. However, although the title rematch was staged in November, it was promoted down in Mexico.
- Purses - Torres - $15,000, Hanagata - $4,000
- Attendance - 4,110
- Gate - $20,612